Matt

Not to pick on anyone, because a lot of people do this, but these are the worst kinds of stats. No one looks at 63% TS as a barometer for anything, any more than 61% or 65%.

@SleeperJazz @ShamsCharania You mean like the salary cap and how everybody talks about that?

@ShamsCharania Dude if you need to “try to simplify” then it’s probably too complicated

Explaining, and trying to simplify, the NBA's new radical anti-tanking reform concepts for ESPN NBA Today:

@bbqbaseball62 @jesseO5 @podoffame Doesn't that show that LeBron was more valuable, because he didn't have 4.5 seasons where he had no value to his teams because he wasn't playing?

Well I don't think it's apples to apples because Lebron didn't retire for 3 years and come back and try to play. Nobody seems to understand that.....if you stop playing basketball for 3 years in your late 30s and try to come back and play you're just not gonna be the same player. Jordan had virtually no knees those Wizards years.....he just wasn't the same player. Lebron never stopped, never got out of shape and came back.....isn't injured etc. All of that is a testament to Lebron's insane longevity. It's not a knock against him....it's just you can't equate Bulls Jordan with Wizards Jordan. They weren't the same.

The facts: 1. MJ was the greatest 2. MJ attempted over 30 shots less than 11% of the time. He attempted 40+ in 7 total games. Your range is wild. 3. The Bulls were only the best team because of MJ 4. Without MJ, the Bulls did not make it past the second round of the playoffs

@jesseO5 @podoffame Careful. The Jordan-lovers get very upset when you point out truths like that.

@podoffame #4 is dumb to mention, since they never made it past the 1st round without Pippen

@UnconConven @podoffame @baseball_ref Koufax IS overrated, but he's a slam-dunk Hall of Famer. The Dodgers won 3 pennants they would not have won without him. Santana can't match that. WAR thinks he can, but that's just a product of WAR's many limitations.

@Tweetso29 @podoffame @baseball_ref Koufax is a HOFer, but overrated. He is Johan Santana. Munson should clearly be in the HOF. Better than contemporaries Simmons or Fisk, just had career shortened by death.

The talent at the catcher position in New York Yankees history is pure gluttony. Three won at least one MVP award, with Yogi winning three. They all caught for at least two World Series championship teams. Two are in Cooperstown while the other three all have a case.

@SaenzTS8 @JessicaDBrand @CespedesBBQ Dude. Don't harass her because that's the only way you can get women to talk to you. Just move on. The world isn't your enemy.

@JessicaDBrand @CespedesBBQ Ummmm...okay then. Let's be friends instead and not do this. We play for the same team of making awesome baseball content. I'd genuinely love to hang with you. We see like a natural fit. Right? We complement one another. Why do this?

the Beaneaters and Bridegrooms

@UnconConven @podoffame @baseball_ref You said, "Munson’s career compares much more favorably to all HOF catchers despite his shortened career than does Koufax to all pitchers." I was pointing out why that's untrue. Koufax is one of the best pitchers ever. Munson is a borderline HOFer. That's not an edge for Munson.

@Tweetso29 @podoffame @baseball_ref Show me where I said he shouldn’t be in the HOF?

@UnconConven @podoffame @baseball_ref Really? Koufax won 3 Cy Young awards. There is no one who believes he shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame.

@Tweetso29 @podoffame @baseball_ref Munson’s career compares much more favorably to all HOF catchers despite his shortened career than does Koufax to all pitchers or Puckett to all CFs.

@UnconConven @podoffame @baseball_ref There is no comparison between Puckett's and Koufax's last healthy years and Munson's.

@podoffame @baseball_ref Agree that the other 3 of HOF cases. Munson in particular. He almost certainly is in if he isn’t killed in plane crash. If Koufax and Puckett get passes on counting stats because of injury, certainly death is a good excuse.

@TheViewUpHere26 @Jimfrombaseball Mantle's on-base percentage was over 100 points higher. Loses meaning when you just cherry-pick stats. No one in the world thinks 9 stolen bases are worth more than 102 points in OBP.

The stats of the '62 season disagree with this assessment: In that season, Mays hit 49 HRs. Mantle hit 30. Mays played every game, all 162. Mantle missed 39 Mays drove in 141 runs. Mantle 89 Mays stole 18 bases. Mantle 9 In the World Series, Mays had 7 hits, in 7 games. Mantle had 3

"Mickey Mantle was, at his peak in 1956-57 and again in 1961-62, clearly a greater player than Willie Mays – and it is not a close or difficult decision." Bill James. Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were among first wave of players to make $100,000 a season. In 1963, Mantle received a $100,000 contract from the New York Yankees. Two days later, the San Francisco Giants gave Mays $105,000. Mantle admitted to being forever jealous of Mays' higher salary, despite making much more in endorsements than Mays ever did. Mantle and Mays at the first World Series game ever played at Candlestick, 1962.

@hoch10904 @Jimfrombaseball I guarantee he has watched more baseball than you have.

@Jimfrombaseball Bill James spent too much time keeping score, and writing stats, mostly with his head down. Some of his opinions, like this one, illustrate a man who did not watch much baseball.

@MikeGottlieb4 @Jimfrombaseball That's literally what he did in the article that was quoted.

@Jimfrombaseball Why not compare Mantle’s best consecutive seasons to Mays best consecutive seasons

@ND1Steve @Jimfrombaseball He said Mantle had a better established peak, and Mays had better career value.

@Jimfrombaseball Mantle > Mays??? What game was Bill James watching?

@Jimfrombaseball A lot of context missing here. James separated players into "peak" (established) value vs. "career" value. His conclusion was that Mantle's established peak was higher than Mays', but that Mays had the better career.

@6seasonspodcast @podoffame @baseball_ref Ooh, can I play too? Me: Let's compare these 2 seasons You: You're arguing "if A's not in, then B shouldn't be either." Me: I'm comparing 2 seasons You: Buehrle was a better value over his career. Me: We're comparing 2 seasons You: (tries to deflect again)

@Tweetso29 @podoffame @baseball_ref The world: let’s talk about Mark Buehrle’s HOF chances… YOU: let’s talk about something else.

Hold my beer. I have a third. Mark Buehrle threw 200+ innings during 14 different MLB seasons. Only 15 pitchers since 1947 can say they did that (8 more did it before integration). The only two that are not in the HOF today are Roger Clemens and Mark Buehrle.

@6seasonspodcast @podoffame @baseball_ref We're comparing two player seasons. I don't know why you keep introducing straw men.

@Tweetso29 @podoffame @baseball_ref “Better” lol. That’s still not the measurement of being in the HOF. But the stats say that Buehrle was the bargain for the WAR.

@PessimistsArc @BandaiNamcoUS Are we sure "Detective Woody Fogle" wasn't a character in the game?

Lawyer up @BandaiNamcoUS (1982)

@Jimfrombaseball I think it was Robert Creamer's book that told how Dahlgren got on McCarthy's bad side. Dahlgren went to Lefty O'Doul for batting tips over the winter. O'Doul then wrote an article that McCarthy was getting all this money and couldn't help his players. McCarthy was livid.

"The most mysterious run-around ever given a major league ball player has fallen to Ellsworth T. (Babe) Dahlgren, the present first baseman of the Phillies." Associated Press, March 23, 1942. "I was the first player drug-tested in baseball, and I am the one who asked for it." Babe Dahlgren. "Babe Dahlgren doesn't screw up that play if he wasn't a marijuana smoker." Mgr. Joe McCarthy blamed the Yankees' failure to win the 1940 pennant on a late-season error by Babe Dahlgren. The rumor was apparently started by Yankees manager Joe McCarthy. Longtime scout Ted McGrew said that Branch Rickey also spread the rumor. "It’s too bad; I wish I had been involved. I would have tried to fix it. People railroaded Babe Dahlgren for illegitimate reasons. It’s a sad story. He was accused of being on drugs when I doubt very much that he was. Babe Ruth was accused of being on drugs, when I doubt very much that he was. It’s not one of baseball’s prettiest stories, and I regret that it didn’t get fixed before he died." Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent. Babe Dahlgren had his life wrecked. The first player ever tested for drug use, in 1943, Dahlgren VOLUNTEERED to be tested, and underwent a series of examinations by a doctor in Philadelphia, to prove he was not a user of marijuana. Babe Dahlgren played in every game of the 1944 season, batting .289 and driving in 101 runs, sixth in the league. Somehow Dahlgren had played superbly, despite being beaten down by the recurrent rumors about marijuana use. Babe Dahlgren had gone to the Baseball Commissioner to ask to be tested, and Commissioner Landis seemed to be sincerely interested in tracking down the source of the rumors, but Landis had died on November 25, 1944. The man who replaced Lou Gehrig at first base!!!

@BBWave2020 @paulieknep @podoffame @PeterVecsey1 Gus led the Seattle in field goal attempts per game literally every year he played for the Sonics.

@paulieknep @podoffame @PeterVecsey1 Gus Williams… more scorer than defender but won at GS and Seattle . Pretty much 3rd option on both teams.

Is Jrue Holiday a Hall of Famer? Also, who's a good comparison? Bob Dandridge comes to mind. Different players but both were third options on two different championship teams, great defenders, and versatile glue guys who could fit in on any squad. @podoffame @PeterVecsey1 (1)

@6seasonspodcast @podoffame @baseball_ref My argument was against using WAR to evaluate players. You didn't answer because there's no way to argue that season of Buehrle's was better. Which is why WAR is much less accurate than most people believe.

@Tweetso29 @podoffame @baseball_ref This isn’t a better argument. This is a “if those guys are in the HOF, so should Buehrle” and it rests in my opinion on this stat: Quality Starts: Mark Buehrle has the 3rd most quality starts in history. (Yes it’s a newer stat) BUT…Felix has 46 LESS quality starts.

@6seasonspodcast @podoffame @baseball_ref Without using WAR, explain why Buehrle in 2010 (3.8 WAR) was better than Hernandez in 2011 (3.7 WAR).

There’s 1.2 pts difference between Felix Hernandez, CC Sabathia, and Mark Buehrle’s 10 best WAR seasons. And Mark did his earnings than 50% of Felix’s salary. Which contributes to the team’s ability to field other impact players. So I’m sorry your team sucked king Felix, but you were getting yours while Buehrle was tossing CGSH in meaningful post season games.